Education

Many children with intellectual disabilities are in special schools, or don’t get any education at all.

They are denied interaction with non-disabled children and do not get the same opportunities to learn and grow.

We work to make sure that all children with intellectual disabilities go to inclusive schools with their peers and receive the right support. So that all children can grow and learn together.

A right for every child.

Many children with intellectual disabilities are segregated from their non-disabled peers. Children with intellectual disabilities often have to attend segregated ‘special education’ schools. This is harmful for their development and goes against their rights. Inclusive education ensures that all children can learn and play together while education methods are adapted to each individual student.

Segregated education

Many children with intellectual disabilities are segregated from their non-disabled peers.

At least 640.000 children with intellectual disabilities attend segregated ‘special education’ schools, and 24.000 children with intellectual disabilities do not receive any education.

Being removed from their peers in their community is harmful for their development and goes against their rights.

By doing this they are denied interaction with non-disabled children and are not provided with the same opportunities to grow and learn. Some children with intellectual disabilities go to mainstream schools, but the quality of education they receive is bad. They have to sit in the hallway, or they are in the class but without any support or adapted curriculum. Getting a good education is also important for getting a job on the open labour market later on in life.

Inclusive education ensures that all children can learn and play together while getting the personal support they need.

Inclusive education

The solution is to leave segregated education to history and have inclusive schools.

An inclusive school embraces each child’s differences and creates an environment where they can learn at their own pace.

In an inclusive school, the focus is shifted from what a child cannot do to what they can do.

We fight for structural change in education so that in all schools:

Students share the same classroom;
Education methods are adapted to every student;
Teachers are equipped with skills, time, tools and support to deliver proper education to all students.

For this approach to be successful:

Children with disabilities need to be given the support they need Teachers need to understand and accept that children can learn together, even if their educational goals and abilities are not the same.
Teachers need to be trained on how to adapt their teaching to bring up the best in every student.
Funding and resources for schools need to available to ensure accessibility, reasonable accommodations and quality teaching.
‘Special schools’ need to get support to prepare and support students for transition to inclusive schools.
Schools need to be inclusive throughout all stages of life and at every age including in higher-education, vocational training, and life-long learning programs.

Those points can only be a success if everyone collaborates: people with intellectual disabilities and their representative organisations, families, leadership of mainstream and special schools, employers, service providers etc.

“Inclusion at school is good for my daughter because it teaches her social skills. She can cope in normal, fast environment and in contact with other people. She knows what kind of situations can come up, including the bad ones, and she learns to deal with them.” – mother of a daughter with Down syndrome

What we do to make it happen

Inclusion Europe demands that countries introduce inclusive schools everywhere and stop segregating children into special education schools.

We published a position paper on inclusive education  in 2021 that shows the need to do more, and seize the opportunity of a changing world to improve the education system.

We also publish the Inclusion Indicators every year. Education is one of the 7 Indicators. We collect data on how many children with intellectual disabilities go to mainstream schools, special schools, or receive no education. We also collect data on which countries have an inclusive education policy. This data helps us to show how big the problem of segregated schools is and which countries need to do better.

Inclusion Europe promotes inclusive education among its membership and in all European countries. We organise regular study visits, round tables and conferences which are attended by many of our members. Regarding adult education and lifelong learning, Inclusion Europe participated to promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities at universities.